Malawi

This title features a general history of Malawi, focusing mainly on the colonial period, when it was know as Nyassaland, but placing that period in the context of the pre-colonial past.

'The Education System in Malawi', an Education Country Status Report (CSR), is a detailed analysis of the current status of the education sector in Malawi, the results of which have been validated by the government of Malawi. Its main purpose is to enable decision makers to orient national policy on the basis of a factual diagnosis of the overall education sector and to provide relevant analytical information for the dialogue between the government and development partners. The analysis incorporates data and information from multiple sources, such as school administrative surveys by the Ministry of Education, household surveys, and a tracer survey created especially for this study. This CSR, developed by a multi-ministerial national team supported by UNESCO P le de Dakar, the World Bank, and GTZ specialists, updates the previous one drawn up in 2003 and consists of eight chapters, including a chapter on higher education. The analysis provides key monitoring and evaluation inputs for the overall education sector, particularly under the framework of the implementation of the National Education Sector Plan.

Presents scientific accounts of the 650 species known (including nearly 100 migrants from Eurasia). This title contains sections on distribution, ecology, status and movements, conservation, breeding seasons (where applicable) and taxonomy.

Although it rarely receives the attention it deserves from anthropologists, medical herbalism is perhaps the most widespread and most ancient form of therapy. This book describes in detail one such herbalist tradition, that found in southern Malawi. Offering the first comprehensive examination of medical herbalism in Malawi, this study combines anthropological and botanical insights into medical herbalism. The book is divided into two parts: the first outlines the ethnographic context of the herbalist tradition with discussion of Chewa ethnobotany and the local classification of plants; the various categories of medicine that are expressed in the local culture; the nature and scope of folk herbalism, its practitioners and its relation to biomedicine; local conceptions of disease; and beliefs relating to witchcraft and divination. The second part, which incorporates the researches of a Malawian chemist, Dr Jerome Msonthi, contains detailed information on over 500 Malawian plants with notes on their local names, distribution, botanical descriptions and various medicinal uses.

Malawi's comprehensive reform of its tax system in the 1980s illustrates many of the issues that developing countries must address when altering the way they levy taxes.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries on the globe. Subsistence agriculture remains at the very heart of its social fabric, and also lies at the root of its tremendous poverty. Yet while Malawi is among the worst performers in terms of per capita income and infant mortality, it is also a surprising leader in other areas (such as freedom of the press), has enjoyed over fifty years of relative stability since independence, and still holds great potential for economic development. Bringing together some of the leading experts on the country, this collection offers a comprehensive introduction to contemporary Malawi, encompassing its economy, culture, and politics. An invaluable resource for scholars and development professionals alike, the book assesses the root causes of Malawi's impoverishment, and also offers insight into how the country might break out of its development impasse.

Although Malawi showed good economic performance under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement, its poverty rate remained high. Executive Directors stressed the need to improve fiscal and monetary stances, and accelerate structural reforms. They appreciated the 10-point plan to improve budget management, and emphasized the need to sustain the soundness of the banking system. Directors agreed for further concessional assistance and urged the authorities to sustain efforts to improve data collection and dissemination, particularly in the area of fiscal statistics.